Love Hurts
by slothfulair01
Summary: Dr. Daniel Kowalski knew to NEVER mix bussiness with pleasure. But after he is kidnapped, he finds himself suddenly at the mercy of someone from his past before the team. Will he survive another battle with the treacherous mind that once stole his heart?
1. Confusion

Something I chugged out at after school one day, in about twenty minutes. As of yet, it is a onesie unless I get reviews (hint, hint) begging me otherwise.

Disclaimer: If I owned this, they wouldn't be penguins.

Glasses askew, arms tied painfully behind his back, Kowalski is dragged through a dimly lit hallway, two camo-clad grunts on either side of him. He feels an aching dull pain from his bruised ribs as he drifts in and out of consciousness, disjointed images and sounds creating a confusing, almost surreal sequence of events. Two men talking, money and weapons exchanging hands. Millions? Who would spend millions for him? But then the comforting darkness would come and he would slip into a place of painless silence. For now.

The next time he was in his right mind the scene had once again changed. He awoke with a start, taking a moment's pause to seek what had jerked him out of sleep. The realization came slowly.

He was...comfortable.

'Well, as comfortable as one can be with bruised ribs, a concussion and several abrasions on my legs from being dragged by those brutes.' But still. He was warm, dry, with the pleasant buzz of pain-killers being dripped into his body by a patient I-V. Whoever had tended to him obviously knew what they were doing. Which made him wonder who his captor was.

'A rebel leader? Another, if less morally inclined scientist? Russian? Islamic? Korean?'

After a few days of drugged bliss he was able to regain some of his composure, sitting up in bed to see how his wounds were doing, searching in vain for his glasses, cursing himself as he burnt his finger trying to turn off the lamp at his bedside. By the third day of wakefulness he became restless.

And hungry.

Despite eating very little at mealtimes, three days (assuming they had fed him while drugged) was pushing his patience to the limit. For the first time since he had awakened, the drugs were no longer shielding him from his hunger or the pain of his wounds. After a day and a half of writhing in obvious pain and discomfort, some finally appeared. A rather sickly-looking old man in a filthy lab coat, peering at him almost leeringly.

In a raspy, quiet voice the "doctor" instructed an unknown person in the doorway.

"Restrain Dr. Kowalski, would you please?"

The two grunts from before grabbed his arms before he could react, strapping his arms with leather bindings to the bed. A long needle, filled with a yellow liquid, glints in the light as the doctor measures the correct dosage.

"Now, Dr. Kowalski, this won't hurt a bit. We can't have you causing problems on the way to your new abode, can we?"

The old man's patronizing tone echoed in Kowalski's ears as a slight prick send him falling into the depths of the darkness. This, unlike it's predecessor, was fitful sleep, full of night mares and angry vision. And the awful feeling of foreboding. Like something was coming. Something far worse than he could ever imagined.

That's all lovelies, try not to kill anyone on your way to submit a review. BTW, pictures of what I think Dr. Kowalski and the gang look like with be posted on my profile, if I get at least 5 reviews that is...


	2. Turbulence

A/N: Alright, I know you are all going to kill me, and I deserve it, but college kicked my proverbial ass first semester, so second semester is make up time. It's currently 1:41 in the morning, and I have class in 7 hours. But I love you all too much to care. Now I'm going to go to bed. I expect love/hate from all my reviewers to tell me if I did the characters personalities correctly. It's been awhile since I watched the show. Luckily, Wikipedia does a pretty good jobs of filling in the blanks. I've decided to do one chapter Kowalski, then the team, than Kowalski. Alright...I'm going to go to bed now, don't be afraid to pass this along to friends, family, or if you are a possesive little devil, keep it all to yourself. Alright. I'm done. I LOVE FEEDBACK, IT ROCKS MY SOCKS!

Disclaimer: Me? Own? Pay money? BWAAHAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAA! That would be a no.

'Drip...drip...drip...'

Rico opens his cobalt eyes to sight of white walls overhead, the smell of disinfectant permeating the air.

'K'walski?'

Rico tries to sit up, but a sharp tingle of pain shoots up his arms and he looks down to see both of his arms in splints. His hazy mind tries to grasp how such a thing had come about, before memories start pouring into his mind's eyes.

_Rico glances over at the tall, slender man next to him, walking down 5th Avenue side-by-side, on leave for the first time in months. Skipper and Private had skipped out to go to a Yankee's game, so Kowalski was 'elected' to watch Rico. Not that the maniac minded. At all._

_Rico stared at the imposing iron gates of the Central Park Zoo, happy to have finally arrived, grabbing onto the scientist's arm and rushing him to the ticket booth. Kowalski sighs as he pays for the tickets, but the faintest glimmer of a smile catches Rico's eye, who smiles happily, which frightened the small children next to him in line._

_As the children cling to their mothers in fear, Rico continues into the zoo, looking left and right expecting to see animals running around everywhere. Kowalski sighs, pushing a pale hand through his dark hair. "The animals are kept in exhibits, Rico, they do not just wander around wherever they please," Rico stares at him blankly, so Kowalski takes his hand and leads him over to the giant map of the zoo, with colorful pictures of animals and the paths taken to get to them. "Now what do you want to see first?"_

_Rico pauses for a moment, then points to the Alex the Lion's exhibit, who's show was starting. The lion roared and pranced around as hyper little kids crowd them, their parents futile in their efforts to control them in the swelling mass of people. Rico feels Kowalski's unease about being around so many people, and the lion was totally lame, and nudges him towards the exit. Kowalski nods, looking a little green and the two start to move towards the exit. Suddenly the crowd shifts, pushing Kowalski back into Rico, who managed to stop him from tumbling to the ground. The scent of the man now in his arms sent his head spinning a little, holding just a little longer than needed before Kowalski slips out his arms, balance restored._

_When Kowalski pulls out of his arms, Rico can swear that the tiniest amount of blush on the doctor's cheeks. But maybe he's imagining it. They go to each of the exhibits, even the petting zoo which Rico exceeded the age limit for. How did they get in, well it seems between Rico's crazy eyes and Kowalski's power of persuasion, admittance to pet some animals was a small price to pay for peace. As the day wears on, the sun climbs high in the sky, it's hot rays and the swelling of the crowd prompts them to gather cold drinks and head for shelter. Iced tea and Coke in hand, they look at the map for somewhere to go while all the shows were in full swing. Rico's eyes scan up the map before smiling brightly, pointing to the penguin's exhibit excitedly. Kowalski nods, taking Rico's wrist so that he could keep the easily distracted agent from dragging him away from shade. Rico lets him, happy to see that Kowalski is enjoying himself. They head down the steps, and, as they had guessed, no one was there. They sit on a bench, watching the tiny tuxedo wearing animals zip through he water gracefully, while waddling on land. Rico notices two male penguins nesting together with one egg, tugging on Kowalski's arm to get an explanation. Taking his mouth away from the tea, already growing a little pink from the hot sun, he follows Rico's sporadic pointing._

"_Oh, yes. The female must have died, so they are taking care of the eggs together."_

_Rico then points to a couple of idle female penguins in the corner. _

"_Why don't they just take care of them? Female's don't want tot take care of an egg that's not there's. It's possible that one of them is the mother, but one of the males drove her away. Homosexuality is family common among birds, actually. Nothing overtly strange here." _

_Kowalski says, turning his attention back to his tea, Rico starting at him, before looking back a the two male penguins, noticing how they nipped at each other playfully. _

_As what happens when his spontaneous mind kick into guard, he doesn't thin k about what happens next. Tugging at Kowalski's sleeve, the slightly taller man looks at him, cobalt eyes like dark mirrors reflecting his face back at him. And their lips are meeting. Kowalski tastes like sweet tea, a little bit of sunscreen, and a underlying taste that is purely him. The lips seem to kiss back just for a moment, before a firm hand places itself on his chest, halting him. The bomber gives a disappointed sigh as they separate, looking at the strangely hurt look in the other's eyes as his heart sinks somewhere between his toes. The vulnerable look in the scientist's eyes is stolen away with professional neutrality._

"_I'm flattered, but I don't mix word and my personal matters."_

_Rico flushes, scratching the back of his head nervously, smiling half-heartedly, as he tries to hid how hurt he is from Kowalski. After a long silence, they stand up to leave, 'Kowalski throwing away his bottle instead of recycling, giving Rico the impression that he must be very angry with him. What if he transfer? Rico will never see him. Neither in the mood to deal with bratty children or roaring crowds, they depart the Zoo. The lady asks if they would like a stamp on their hands to get back in. Kowalski refuses. So Rico does too. They eat their packed lunch under some trees in silence, both not eating much. The tension could be cut with a knife, and with neither Skipper nor Julian, the crazy prince, there to break it, they had to do that on their own. They venture towards the stadium, which is a decent ways away, to wait for Private and Skipper. Midway there, he feels a tug on his arm, looking at Kowalski, with a strained look on his face. _

_This can't be good._

"_I'm…sorry…"_

_Is that a blush?_

"_I was simply alarmed by the suddenness and severity of this new level of intimacy from you…"_

_Obviously_

"…_and while your psychopathic tendencies do not deter me, nor does any facet of your personality…"_

_Yay! He likes me._

"…_I…cannot accept your feelings…"_

_Never mind._

"…_I have a strict policy about relationships with people I work with…"_

_Damn_

"…_If…there is any way to reverse this relationship back to close friends I would truly appreciate it…"_

_Not likely._

"…_Otherwise, if you can't suppress your affections for me, you may request of me to leave…"_

_NO!_

"…_if it is more appropriate."_

_Rico grabs onto Kowalski's wrist, the slightly taller man looking him in the eye, shaking his head in refusal._

"_K'walski stay."_

_Cobalt eyes widen as he opens his mouth to answer, before taken over my a startled gasp as Rico feels a prick at his neck. _

"_Rico!"_

_A sudden chill suffuses his body, mind going blank as he falls to the ground, paralyzed. A black car pulls up to them on the street, Kowalski at his side pulling out the dart._

_Deftly, Kowalski throws the dart into the shoulder of a man getting out of the car, but not before a similar dart hits him. Rico watches in amazement as Kowalski manages to keep standing, but the brutes from the car are already on him, handcuffing his arms behind his back, and blindfolding him. Pedestrians on the street scream as a horsed policeman gallops up the sidewalk towards them. Vision going black, he looks at the car, barely taking in Kowalski's limp body being folded into the car. Fingers reaching into his belt as the car closes he locates the red 'panic' button. A plume of exhaust hits his face as the car speeds off to join the thousands of other's just like it, pressing the button as all fades to black._

Rico is snapped out of his reverie by the arrival of the doctor, who looks more than a little green.

"Ah, good, you're awake," She says, carrying in a bag of what looked like tools. Not just tools, _his _tools. Which had been previously safe inside of his gullet.

"Now. I have been instructed to sterilize and return to you these…objects for your consumption to be stored and used at a later date. As a medical professional, I have to speak against these practices for your benefit, though I'm guessing that it will fall on deaf ears. So, I'm leaving them here, at your disposal, to…ingest when you see fit." And with that she turns, only to here a croak behind her. Shoulders sinking, as does Rico's heart, she looks back at him, shaking her head.

"We haven't found him. I'm sorry."

The door clicks shut behind Dr. Marlene Nicole Sullivan, sighing deeply, groaning. She _hates _giving bad news. Dragging herself over to the pot, she pours herself a bountiful cup.

"Coffee. Good."

"Ahhhh…been spending time with Rico I see. Diggin' the monosyllabics, Doc."

"Hello, Skipper," Marlene glances over at the agent, taking note of his slightly disheveled, tired appearance.

"No offense, but you look terrible."

"Me? Such foolhardy fallacy. I've never felt more alive. The hunt is my drive, my muse, my thrill." He says, his bravado as see-through as prescription bottles the pharmacist next to him is filling.

"I hope so…for both are sakes."

"Who needs hope? We'll find him, he's just been drug through the mud a little."

Marlene looks down at the coffee, the dark liquid reflecting her tired eyes.

"It's been nearly 48 hours, Skipper. After that, if you haven't found him-"

"I know what the statistics are, Marlene, but Kowalski isn't a statistic, he's a _survivor_."


End file.
